European Capital of Culture 2016

MUDAKY. ARABESKY / F***ers. Arabesques

The creation of a low-budget short film almanac by Ukrainian filmmakers was provoked by the desire to be self-realized in the terms of creative stagnation in the Ukrainian film industry. The main principles are to shoot here & now; the ordinary people are in focus.

Volodymyr Tykhyy, film producer and one of its directors comments, that ‘mudaky’ - people that are guided by not even their own interests, but no one know what’s it is. It’s a socio-cultural nihilism that exists in contemporary culture. It’s a disease, permanently present in our society in all its spheres, including culture and politics. That illness strongly influences our society and teaches our children to be ‘mudaky’.

Of course, the film title sounds aggressively. Some TV channels even consider it to be an offensive word, and in their reports mention only on the second half of the title. But the point is not aggression, but the relevance, actuality and sociality. There are three requirements to participate in the project: the story should be based on the events in Ukraine, with ordinary people, not oligarchs or some stars, and in our time.

The film was released in Ukraine in September 2010 and become one of the most successful independent film projects .